Monday, January 16th - it's a cold one this morning

Conditions at 4:30 am: -13 with a -23 wind chill, rising to an amazing -9' and maybe some sun this afternoon

The finished steaming chili

It's cold this morning and I had to break down and turn the furnace on for a few minutes to warm the place up. I was in bed by 8:00 last night so no wonder it's cold this morning. We had a pretty active day yesterday after an otherwise quiet weekend. Friday  night was supper at the Van Gaals - moose meatloaf. It was mixed with some ground pork first, to balance the dryness of the moose and it turned out nice and juicy. On it's own the moose meat is very lean so it truly benefits from the addition of some form of  fat. I was quite tired Friday night so I came home right after supper. I watched part of a TV show but my eyelids kept slamming shut so I went to bed. Saturday morning was work as usual, then back home. It was chilly but the wind had died down. It was really strong during the night and on Saturday morning, but it was quite pleasant by 2:30. I spent the first part of the afternoon filling up my wood for the week. After a bite to eat I decided to bake some cookies. I made some oatmeal cookies with date filling, then set about to make some Texas style chili - chunks of meat rather than ground, and no beans. I hadn't made it before and wanted to try it. My search of the freezer for beef came up a bit short so I had to supplement what I had with some goat.  Once it was all prepped, it was put into the slow cooker to simmer over night.

The cornbread was a hit

Sunday morning I slept till 8:00 and got up to the smell of chili filling the kitchen. YUM. It was tasty enough but lacked a little heat so I added some cayenne pepper and let it simmer a bit longer. Perfect (or as close as I was going to get). It was time for me to bake chocolate chip cookies for Bernie and make some cornbread to go with the chili. I sourced out a recipe for cornbread with jalapeno peppers.

Once I was done in the kitchen it was time to get ready to go for our hike in the woods. As I was getting ready Lloyd called to report in on his evening out with the girls. It was the company Winter Party and he was there with 7 dates. It must be his good looks and charm that kept him busy 'dancing their little feet off' all night long - it sure isn't his money!!! It sounds like a good time was had by all. He says he would have had a better time if I'd been there but somehow I doubt it. It would have been a different party if I'd been there and it sounds like he really enjoyed himself. I'm sure the other ladies were pleased to have him all to themselves.

Brenda and Bernie picked me up for the hike and we were joined by her cousin Maureen and husband George. We usually cross country ski with them but there's not enough snow yet this year. Hopefully that will come soon. So the five of us (six if you count Cooper)  ventured out onto the 4.7 km trail. It took  a couple of hours for us to navigate the entire length. It's quite hilly in spots and not something you can walk quickly. But it was lovely in the woods - no wind, just peaceful and quiet and calm. When we got back we all had chili and cornbread and a beverage. It was a lovely way to end the afternoon, with good company around the warm fire.

But needless to say, I'm sadly out of shape and I was very tired, as were we all. The afternoon ended at 5:30 with all of us feeling like it was much later.  We cleaned up and dishes and they went home. I watched some TV but ended up going to bed at 8:00.  But then I was up at 4:30 this morning so it all balances out I suppose.

Removing the snowballs from his feet